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No. 6 Louisville prepares to face Missouri State

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)

As Louisville works toward a complete game, the Cardinals'
response to adversity offers an encouraging sign of progress.

The sixth-ranked Cardinals (9-1) overcame the absence of injured
point guard Chris Jones with impressive contributions all around in
beating Western Kentucky on Saturday.

Coach Rick Pitino said Monday that the junior college transfer
will play Tuesday night against Missouri State (8-1) after missing
a game with a sprained right wrist.

In the meantime, the coach is hoping the Cardinals follow up a
team-wide effort in which leading scorer Russ Smith assumed Jones'
point guard duties, freshman Terry Rozier showed his rebounding
skills and senior reserve Tim Henderson scored 12 points to lead
the bench's strong showing.

With the Bears featuring a similarly deep roster, a repeat
performance will be necessary.

Especially since the Cardinals haven't consistently strung
together two strong halves.

Saturday offered polar opposites as they slogged through the
first half before turning up the pace on both ends in the second
and shot 69 percent.

''I think they understand their weakness,'' Pitino said of his
team's uneven concentration. ''We've talked about it so much about
focusing and listening, and I think they're improving in that
area.''

The Hall of Fame coach also seemed encouraged by the team's
defensive development despite not being able to apply its trademark
full-court pressure like it wants.

Like many schools, Louisville is adjusting to this season's
increased enforcement of hand-checking rules, resulting in more man
and zone looks than the trapping and pressing that worked so well
during last year's championship run.

That could change with the athletic Jones back, though Pitino
didn't specify his role or how much he would play.

If nothing else, the return of Louisville's No. 2 scorer (14.9
points per game) boosts offensive prospects for a team that did
fine as he watched from the sideline.

Henderson, a walk-on who became a star last spring after scoring
back-to-back 3-pointers to rally Louisville past Wichita State in
the national semifinal, hit 4 of 6 from long range against WKU for
a career high in points. Forward Chane Behanan added 11 points and
seven rebounds as the Cardinals' reserves outscored the
Hilltoppers' bench 33-20.

The Cardinals' three-point halftime lead ended with a
second-half rout.

The finish didn't surprise Henderson, who said, ''we're one of
the deepest teams in the country. We've got Kevin (Ware) and Anton
(Gill), and it's just all matchups and how coach feels who's going
to play good or who matches up well with that certain team. ... I'd
say we go about 12 deep.''

Louisville's all-hands-on-deck approach included solid
performances from forwards Mangok Mathiang and Stephan Van Treese.
Mathiang was selected as the American Athletic Conference rookie of
the week on Monday after scoring 13 points and grabbing five
rebounds; Van Treese provided solid relief with Mathiang on the
bench with three fouls.

Louisville's next step is continuing that teamwork against
Missouri State, which returns nine lettermen and five starters. The
Bears' only loss came against Virginia (83-63) in the Corpus
Christi Classic and they enter with back-to-back wins over Cameron
and Oral Roberts.

The Cardinals are coming off a game in which they answered
Pitino's concerns about missing a starter by showing their depth
and chemistry.

''This is an easy group to coach in terms of their desire to
win,'' Pitino said. ''They're good guys. They're catching on slower
than I would've anticipated from a carry-over of a championship
team.

''That being said, they're humble guys, very eager to work.
They're going to lose their share of games, but they're going to
give it their effort every single game.''

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